Perfectly tangy, these buffalo chicken sloppy joes make for a wonderful family weeknight dinner. Super simple to make and bursting with flavor.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
The classic American sandwich gets a makeover with this buffalo chicken sloppy joes recipe.
Simple and quick to make, ground chicken is mixed with buffalo sauce and topped with blue cheese crumbles and ranch dressing for one delicious handheld bite.
This recipe is a keeper!
Be sure to try my chicken sloppy joes too!
Why You’ll Love this Buffalo Chicken Sloppy Joe Recipe:
- One pot: All cooked in the skillet on a stovetop, clean up is a breeze!
- Quick: Ready to serve in less than 30 minutes, this is a great option for a mid week meal.
- Spicy: Buffalo is one of my favorite sauces. It’s hot, but not overly so and has such a delicious tang. It’s heat is cooled down with the ranch dressing.


How to make buffalo chicken sloppy joes
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
- Soften the vegetables and garlic in a skillet.
- Add in the ground chicken and cook until browned.
- Stir in the tomato and hot sauce and simmer to thicken.
- Place in buns and top with blue cheese and ranch dressing.


Can you make it ahead of time?
The buffalo chicken sloppy joes can be made up to 4 days ahead of time and kept covered in the fridge. You can then heat it through on the stovetop when you are ready to serve.
Can you freeze it?
Yes! If you have any leftover chicken mixture, it will keep frozen for up to 6 months. It’s a great idea to make a double batch of it to have to hand. Thaw the chicken in the fridge overnight and then quickly heat it through on the stovetop before serving. Easy!
What do you serve it with?
These sandwiches are great to serve with fries, wedges, or go healthy with a side salad! Try them with:

Recipe Tips and Notes
- You can swap the ground chicken for ground pork or turkey if you like.
- You can use shredded rather than ground chicken for a different texture. Perfect if you have leftover roasted chicken.
- The chicken mixture should be fairly thick. Let it simmer for as long as needed until you get the desired texture.
More Chicken Sandwiches
- Chicken Parmesan Sandwich
- Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- Fried Chicken Sandwich
- Buffalo Chicken Sliders
If you’ve made this recipe, please be sure to let us know by leaving a star rating or a comment below. Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ onion chopped
- 2 carrots finely chopped
- 2 celery stalks finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 can 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1/3 cup hot sauce like Frank’s Red Hot
- 4 hamburger buns
- Crumbled blue cheese
- Ranch dressing
- Chopped chives
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once heated, add the onion, carrots, and celery to the pan and sprinkle with salt. Sauté for a few minutes until softened. Add in the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add in the ground chicken and break it up into pieces. Cook until the meat is browned.
- Stir in the tomato sauce and hot sauce. Turn the heat to low. Cover the pan, and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- Uncover the pan and give everything a good stir. Continue to cook, uncovered, for another couple minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens a bit. If the mixture seems dry, stir in 1/4 cup water or chicken broth. If the mixture has too much liquid, keep simmering until the sauce thickens.
- Add the sloppy joe mixture to the buns, and serve with blue cheese, ranch dressing, and chives if desired.
Notes
- You can swap the ground chicken for ground pork or turkey if you like.
- You can use shredded rather than ground chicken for a different texture. Perfect if you have leftover roasted chicken.
- The chicken mixture should be fairly thick. Let it simmer for as long as needed until you get the desired texture.
Mel says
We really enjoyed this recipe. We used ground turkey and a combination of wing sauce and hot sauce, but otherwise left the base recipe in tact. The buns we had were for a different meal, so we topped pretzel slider rolls with havarti, then the buffalo turkey sloppy joe meat, ranch dressing, and blue cheese crumbles, closed up the sliders, sprayed with olive oil spray, and baked for about 15 minutes at 350 to get everything warmed and the cheese melty. They made great leftovers too (the couple we had). We’re definitely keeping this one in rotation.
Becky Hardin says
Sounds delicious!